What’s Covered?
New X-Men # 155 - 156, Uncanny X-Men # 442 - 443, X-Men V2 # 157 - 164
Chuck Austen finishes out his run by providing two issues helping Grant Morrison (and editorial) to conclude New X-Men, throwing in a quick arc for the last time on Uncanny, and then gives us his final two arcs over on X-Men Volume 2, prior to being replaced. This blog will be immediately followed by my Chuck Austen retrospective, which I'm looking forward to writing.
Roster Watch
Synopsis
New X-Men # 155 - 156: Bright New Morning
Writer - Chuck Austen
Pencils - Salvador Larroca
New X-Men vol. 1 #155 4/7/2004 Chuck Austen Salvador Larroca
Hank and Scott are arguing with Emma. They think the school should shut down, but she still wants to run it.
Pretty interesting that two of the OG X-Men want to shut down the school and it's a former villain who is arguing to keep it open.
This stays true to Emma's characterization as her desire to be a teacher continues to be her most redeeming quality. You know, other than just being fabulous.
Scott says he deserves to be with “someone.” Emma gets offended, thinking that she’s not just someone and that his happiness is not more important than the children’s.
Yea, I would be pretty offended by this too. Good job Scott, you asshole! I've been tracking ever since the early Claremont days that Scott is the type of guy who just can't go long without having a girlfriend. He thought Jean died when Magneto's base collapsed. Boom, hooking up with Colleen Wing. Jean dies? No problem, Madelyn Pryor is there. Jean dies again? Making out with Emma on Jean's gravestone.
Hank accuses Scott of doing something wrong by kissing Emma in front of jeans gravestone
See, I'm not the only one who had a problem with it. Beast doesn't think it's cool either!
Hank says that X is worn out from the Magneto stuff and is done. He brought Magneto’s body back to Genosha
What do you know, Professor Xavier is written out of the series again.
Hank and Scott realize Cassandra Nova might have escaped
Pretty sure this is never going to go anywhere, but I guess we'll see.
The students, and Emma, are attacked by humans in their temporary X-Corp hideout
Hank and Scott left incapacitated by Danger Room sentinels
Oh yea, I guess there needs to be a plot. Woo, some danger at the temporary holding compound for the students. Yadda yadda.
New X-Men vol. 1 #156 4/21/2004 Chuck Austen Salvador Larroca
Beast is still angry with Scott about betraying his friend Jean
Yea, Beast! Let him have it!
Cuckos still refusing to join back with Emma
Harsh but justified.
The anti mutant group kills a young mutant named Germaine
You killed Germaine! You bastards! Who's Germaine again? Why did New X-Men even need two non Morrison issues?
Uncanny X-Men # 442 - 443: Of Darkest Nights
Writer - Chuck Austen
Pencils - Salvador Larroca
Uncanny X-Men vol. 1 #442 4/7/2004 Chuck Austen Salvador Larroca
X and W are bringing Mag’s body to Genosha for burial
X asking W why he’s giving so much attitude, but he obviously disagrees with giving Mags so much respect
Ever since X-Men V2 # 1, Wolverine fricken hates Magneto.
Nick Fury is pissed about the burial
W goes nuts, interrupting X’s Eulogy, even going as far as to kick over the casket
Well, that might be going too far, but I guess the guy did just kill thousands of New Yorkers. Does he really deserve this?
X asks if he wants him to admit they should have killed him years ago
W tears down the Magneto shrine and cuts off Toad’s tongue
Holy shit. Wolverine is pissed!
Juggs, She - Hulk, and Emma digging up bodies near the fallen Statue of Liberty
Polaris tells Scarlet Witch and QS that they are siblings
All 3 head to Genosha
Uncanny X-Men vol. 1 #443 4/21/2004 Chuck Austen Salvador Larroca
Polaris gives an epic “Magneto was right” speech
Goes nuts but then calms down
Something about Genosha that makes Polaris go off her rocker. Also, something about weddings.
X-Men Volume 2 # 157 - 160: Day of the Atom
Writer - Chuck Austen
Pencils - Salvador Larroca
X-Men vol. 2 #157 5/19/2004 Chuck Austen Salvador Larroca
Havok asks Annie if she banged Iceman
This seems unnecessary.
Havok says the teams are being split up and he’ll lead a team (seems like a terrible idea)
Who the fuck thinks it's a good idea for Havok to run a team again!? How many times does he need to break bad or fuck it up to lose trust? Oh, his bro is giving him a team. Nepotism!
Josh Guthrie gets to school
He's so dreamy!
Sammy will be his roommate.
Bring them to Academy X!
Talking about how Storm and Emma are hot
That's so Fish Face!
Bobby is really pissed about Juggs being on the team
Throwing around one of those “Original 5” comments again
Iceman is bitchy ever since he permanently became composed of ice
Bruh, let it go.
Many peeps walking around, bitching about their team assignments
This is pretty funny.
Scott, Emma, Havok, Josh, Bishop, Juggs, Rogue, Gambit, Iceman, NC, Angel, Lorna, Jubes, W, Paige, Warren, NS, Beast, Kitty, Sage
These are all the characters who need team assignments. Where will they land!?
Jubes wanted to be with Paige
Aww, besties!
Rogue and Gambit wanted time to themselves
So they'll go...what, 2 issues without being on a team?
W didn’t want to be on every team
Lol.
Scott and Emma are co-headmasters
Alex’s team
Alex, Iceman, Rogue, Gambit, W, Juggs, Lorna
Hmm, I don't like Havok. I don't like Gambit. Lorna has been annoying lately, although she used to be one of my faves. Iceman has always been the worst. Rogue is great, but she was better when she was leading squads. Wolverine is great, but has only been average in this era. Juggernaut is an MVP!
Sent to China to figure out why the magnetic plates are out of alignment
They find Xorn!
Lol, that didn't last long. Sure, Xorn was Magneto, but Xorn had a twin brother also named Xorn with the same powers. Gentleman, at least let Morrison get out the door before you start retconning his stories. I actually don't mind though because Xorn is cool and the Magneto reveal was dumb.
X-Men vol. 2 #158 6/16/2004 Chuck Austen Salvador Larroca
Juggernaut hilariously pieces together what happened.
This Xorn had a star in his head and sucked in hundreds of ppl to his black hole brain.
Josh is sad about his dead girl
They heard some mutants talking to Black Tom, perhaps?
Oh Snap! What's Black Tom doing over here!?
Havok decides to bring Xorn back to the school but the Eight Immortals tell him to stop
W has an entertaining exchange with a female who also has claws
A card blows up in Gambit’s hand and seems to have blinded him
This is a big deal as Gambit will be blind for the foreseeable (not a pun) future.
Havok clears away the Immortals but opens up Xorn’s head
The plot is once again the least interesting part of Chuck Austen's storing. Let's get more of Stacy X jump roping naked and Husk walking in. Wait, where are those two lovebirds!? Banging in the sky still?
X-Men vol. 2 #159 7/21/2004 Chuck Austen Salvador Larroca
Havok’s powers are able to stop the black hole
Phew, I was really getting engaged in this story.
Juggs and Iceman bicker and fight
The eight immortals offer to help
Sammy tries to tell Emma about Black Tom
No one is listening to him. I don't like where this is going.
Juggs and IM stay to protect Havok and Xorn
The rest go with the Immortals
The Chinese military come for both
IM throws Juggs into the soldiers
Finally getting along I take it.
They combine and create a mecha soldier
Lorna is a badass and finds the Xorn helmet
Wolverine is really grateful that she is on his team
X-Men vol. 2 #160 8/18/2004 Chuck Austen Salvador Larroca
The XM help Xorn
Juggernaut goes looking for Tom
Havok and Annie make up
Yadda, yadda.
X-Men Volume 2 # 161 - 164: Heroes and Villains
Writer - Chuck Austen
Pencils - Salvador Larroca
X-Men vol. 2 #161 9/15/2004 Chuck Austen Salvador Larroca
Cover roster
Wolverine, Juggs, Lorna, Xorn, Havok (Leader), Rogue, Blind Gambit, Iceman
New brotherhood of mutants
Exodus, Sabretooth, Avalanche, Black Tom, Nocturne?, Elephant man (Mammomax)?
It's a big deal when you get a new Brotherhood lineup, but who the fuck green lit the idea of creating a new evil mutant that is a giant elephant (I know he's a wholly mammoth)? That was ok in the 60's and 70's, but in 2004? Really? Bruh.
Rogue takes out Avalanche, using Lorna’s power
I always forget that Rogue can absorb people's powers.
Iceman freezes Mammomax’s tongue
Nocturne helps innocent ppl
Gambit sat out the fight and is mad at Rogue
Iceman still being a dick towards Juggs, demanding to know why he wasn’t at the fight.
Sammy’s mom asks if it’s ok for her to date Cain/Juggs
Annie is worried Carter isn’t safe with the Brotherhood free so she tells Lorna she’s leaving for good
I recently listened to a Chuck Austen interview (which I'll cover in my Chuck Austen retrospective that comes out next) that people hated Nurse Annie at the time. Even though these aren't real characters, I feel bad when one of them gets spontaneously and obviously written out. It's like when Kylun was kicking ass in Excalibur and then he's like "I'm gonna go look for my parents...for the rest of Marvel continuity."
X-Men vol. 2 #162 9/29/2004 Chuck Austen Salvador Larroca
Juggernaut apparently re-joined the Brotherhood and has been a plant (not a pun) all along
I don't know how I feel about this. I know that he's about to officially go all in on being a hero, but just the fact that he was even contemplating double crossing them doesn't sit right with me.
Juggs kills Norturne (apparently)
He didn't. He actually told her to look for help. I guess I'm confused. Maybe he wasn't seriously turning on the X-Men. I'm confused.
Sammy followed Juggs
Alex frees Xorn (the brother, also named Xorn), to help
Black Tom fucking kills Sammy!
Sammy curses Juggernaut for being a traitor as he lays dying.
Juggernaut goes nuts on the bad guys
Alex, Xorn, and Bobby are apparently killed by Avalanche and the Brotherhood
X-Men vol. 2 #163 10/27/2004 Chuck Austen Salvador Larroca
Northstar is thinking of quitting and he’s sad that Annie is leaving
Who cares!? Sammy just died!
He (Northstar) picks up Sabertooth and beats him around while also asking if he knows where his sister is
Mindee, one of the Cuckos, messes with Sabertooth's mind, which helps gambit since he can’t see, and takes out sabertooth
Where the fuck did a Cucko come from? Why is there a random Cucko in a Chuck Austen comic? Why is there only one? Didn't they all flee the mansion and refuse to stay around Emma?
Nocturne is alive and was sent by Juggernaut to go find help
Hooray
Juggernaut helps Iceman and Havoc out of the hole
Don't worry guys, they didn't actually get killed by Avalanche.
W, Havok, Juggs, Nocturne, Iceman, and Polaris are out to wreck some shit
X-Men vol. 2 #164 11/17/2004 Chuck Austen Salvador Larroca
Jay Guthrie saves Gambit and Mindee from Exodus
Black Tom kills the 4 armed chef, Marilyn
I guess Black Tom is like next level evil.
NS not happy about it
Nocturnes possesses Black Tom
Mindee does a mind wipe so they forget where the mansion is
Xorn sucks all the bad guys into his black home brain
Juggs and Nocturne go too
My Connections and Creators
I'm not going to say a lot because I'm going to launch into my full Chuck Austen retrospective after this, but I have a lot of emotions about Juggernaut and Sammy. Juggernaut is Austen's greatest achievement and the fact that I feel genuinely sad about Sammy's death is a good thing, it means Mr. Austen was successful.
It's odd how these final stories took place across three different titles, but I'm at least glad that Austen got to go out on his own terms.
Characters
Archangel
Oddly, no longer a part of this comic.
Husk
Also, oddly no longer part of this comic. Unlike Archangel though, I just wiki'd Husk and it looks like she won't make many appearances for the next few years. What the hell!? Is she associated with Austen now?
Northstar
Is he still around?
Juggernaut
Juggernaut is Austen's greatest achievement. It took the death of Sammy for him to officially break up with Black Tom and become a good guy from this point on (I think).
Havok
Still lame, and now a leader again. That seems like such a bad choice. I hope the next writer undoes this.
Polaris
Not too memorable, unfortunately.
Iceman
He used to be annoying comic relief, but now he's both lame and a prick.
Nurse Annie
I never had anything against her, but now she's gone for good.
Sammy
I'm very upset about this, but I guess Sammy was tied to Austen and his time has now passed.
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